Roller skate wheels historically were made from metal or wood. In an effort to secure superior roller action of the wheel, the use of precision bearings has been previously suggested as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,607,010, 2,734,777 and 3,860,293. In addition, the art has developed to a point where plastics for the wheel structure are becoming more and more common. Examples of plastic prior art wheel constructions are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,863,701 and 3,311,417. When skateboards became popular, the wheels were called upon to support double the load that has been experienced in roller skate wheel constructions and further the wheels were called upon to provide traction on standard roadbeds or highways. This provided an apparently different environment for the wheel to operate in than was common on hardwood floor roller skating rinks, and the wheels that were utilized were molded from a urethane, a thermoplastic material and rather inexpensive loose ball bearings were provided, much like the structure shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,863,701. In the use of this type of wheel it was found that the bearings would not stand the loads that were placed thereon and furthermore the tracking ability of the molded wheels was found in some instances to be inferior so that control of the skateboard was lost. This is particularly so when executing turns of a small radius where considerable slippage takes place between the rollers and the surface creating undesirable wear. The instant disclosure relates to a wheel structure where the wear on the periphery of the wheel is reduced by controlling the deflection parameter of the periphery of the wheel with a novel series of tapered counterbores and more particularly the tracking ability is superior since the wheel maintains substantial contact with the traction surface even when cornering.
It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide for a skateboard a roller structure which is vastly superior to previously known roller structures designed for the same purpose.
In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a roller structure, particularly for skateboards, which will have the capability of enabling a skateboard operator to execute turns in a manner which is far safer than has heretofore been possible while at the same time reducing slippage between the rollers and the surface on which they roll and increasing the life of the rollers as compared to conventional rollers.
It is especially an object of the present invention to provide for a skateboard or the like rollers which are capable of increasing their traction with respect to the surface on which they roll when executing turns.
Also, the objects of the present invention include the provision of a skateboard and a roller construction to be used therewith which while being of relatively low cost nevertheless are capable of achieving the above objects in a highly reliable manner.